To improve efficiencies, the Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Department wanted to use technology so that citizens would not be asked to produce paper documents to establish their identity, prove their insurance validity, confirm their tax payments or confirm the finances of their vehicles.

Keeping citizens at the centre, the department went on a big digital transformation drive and created a ‘transport framework’. This was aimed at improving performance, controlling revenue leakages and measuring and monitoring road safety and traffic patterns. As part of this digital drive, approximately 85 business processes are re-engineered and implemented. All services are rendered using Aadhaar as primary authentication. In a first, the department is also using machine learning enabled Microsoft Bots for answering user queries in real-time.

All digital payments are digitally verified. Technology interventions are done with technologies like Blockchain, ICR (intelligent character recognition) for vehicle and eKYC documents verification, and usage of Microsoft bots for citizen and officer assistance.

The usage of digital technologies have helped the department take efficiencies to a different level. For example, consider new vehicle registration. Today, a buyer does need not carry document proofs. All he or she needs to give is an Aadhaar number, fingerprint and PAN card. The vehicle data is pulled from manufacturer’s database. A buyer takes the vehicle home from the dealer premises without even visiting the RTA office, and does all statutory payments through the e-payment gateway. This eliminates agents and middlemen. Earlier, the same activity took two months to complete the process. Now it happens within two days.

In case of transfer or ownership, earlier, a buyer had to send a cheque and his driver to collect the keys from the seller. Now, they can transact business with the RTA through the software application. Both buyer and seller authenticate themselves through Aadhaar and complete the business without visiting the RTA.

As a result of these digital initiatives, the cost of providing a service to the citizen is greatly reduced to the government. No paper based documents are asked from the citizens to establish their identity, prove their insurance validity, confirm their tax payments or confirm the finances of their vehicles. All the RTA documents are delivered to the citizen digitally in their e-mail box.

Srikanth is an award winning journalist with more than 16 years of experience. In 2010 and 2013, Srikanth received the Polestar award for Excellence in IT Journalism, from the PoleStar Foundation, an independent trust established in 1998 to recognize Excellence in Business and IT Journalism.

In the past, Srikanth has led the editorial operations for InformationWeek (UBM) and Dataquest (CyberMedia). Srikanth has also been associated with Patni Computer Systems and Capgemini India, in marketing and communications roles. He can be reached at srikanth.rp@expressindia.com

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up here to get the latest news, updates delivered directly to your inbox.

Express Computer is one of India's most respected IT media brands and has been in publication for 24 years running. We cover enterprise technology in all its flavours, including processors, storage, networking, wireless, business applications, cloud computing, analytics, green initiatives and anything that can help companies make the most of their ICT investments. Additionally, we also report on the fast emerging realm of eGovernance in India.